


While You Were Sleeping (Things You Said When You Thought I was Sleeping Remix)

by IreneADonovan



Series: Remixes 2018 [25]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, Charles in a Wheelchair, Erik Has Feelings, M/M, Post-Cuba, Watching Someone Sleep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-07 23:09:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15230031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IreneADonovan/pseuds/IreneADonovan
Summary: Charles and Erik, each thinking while the other is sleeping...





	While You Were Sleeping (Things You Said When You Thought I was Sleeping Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Akasanata](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akasanata/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Ficlets from Tumblr](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14291997) by [Akasanata](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akasanata/pseuds/Akasanata). 



> Taken from one of Akasanata's tumblr ficlets...

Charles was sleeping.

Erik was relieved. He'd come, come back, made sure Charles had made it safely to a hospital. He could leave now, leave a note, “I was here,” to let Charles know Erik hadn't just walked away without looking back.

Charles looked so frail, unconscious, the force of personality that dominated any space he was in now quiescent.

Frail and still. Yet he survived. Was he out of danger? His will was strong.

Erik picked up the chart hanging on the wall.

No.

_No._

NO!

The metal in the room vibrated.

He read the words again and again as the tremors about him strengthened.

He forced his powers to stillness, not wanting to attract attention.

Read the words again, not comprehending everything, but comprehending enough. Key phrases jumped out. Gunshot wound. Comminuted fractures of T10-11. Transection of the spinal cord. Complete injury. Paralysis.

He had done this.

He had done _this_.

With shaking hands, he replaced the chart.

“I'm sorry, Charles, so, so sorry.”

He stands beside the bed, not touching Charles. He doesn't deserve to touch Charles.

He cannot stay, no matter how much he yearns to.

Charles will be better off without him.

“I love you, Charles. Goodbye.”

*****

Erik was sleeping.

It was the only time he ever looked relaxed, content. In waking, he was all hard angles and prickly defenses.

In sleep there were softnesses. The way his hair curled over his forehead. The way his lips curved upward as he snuggled close to Charles. The tense line of his shoulders gone. The dagger-sharp edges of his mind blunted.

If only such moments could last. Charles had no illusions that Erik would stay, even if they pulled off the miracle and defeated Shaw. Erik would find a reason to go, another wrong to avenge.

Charles alone could not hold him here, no matter how hot the flame between them burned.

“I love you, Erik,” he whispered, knowing Erik wouldn't hear, knowing it wouldn't matter if he did. “Stay, Erik. Stay with me.”

*****

“I love you, Charles. Goodbye.”

Charles had been drifting toward consciousness, in no hurry to get there, knowing the pain – and its unsettling lack – that awaited him, but those words, that voice--

His eyes flew open.

Erik stood at his bedside, gazing down at him, pale eyes full of regret. That infernal helmet was in his hands. At least it wasn't on his head.

“Hello, Erik.”

Erik flinched as if struck. “Charles.”

“Welcome back.” A touch bitter. But damnit, he had reason.

“I can't stay. I'm no good for you. If I could do this—”

“It was an accident, Erik. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” He patted the bed beside his hip. “Stay. Please.”

Erik regarded him for a long moment, blue-grey eyes unreadable. Then he sat.


End file.
